Ricoh and Hitachi Reach Basic Agreement on Ricoh's Acquisition of Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd. | Ricoh Europe: copiers, photocopiers, printers, gelsprinters, multifunctional printers

Tokyo, March 31, 2004 -- Ricoh Co., Ltd. and Hitachi, Ltd. today announced that Ricoh and Hitachi have signed a basic agreement to the effect that Hitachi will transfer all its shares of Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd. ('Hitachi PRS'), a 100% owned subsidiary, to Ricoh. Details are as follows.

Reasons for the basic agreement
Ricoh is committed to strengthening its printer business, an important pillar of its growth strategy. To this end, Ricoh will strengthen product lines for the office colour printer market, printers for mission critical systems and POD, or print on demand, markets, in which Ricoh is yet to participate. In addition, Ricoh will enhance IT sales channels on top of its conventional copier marketing channels. Through these initiatives, Ricoh will optimise "Total Document Volume" as the strategic objective of its imaging solutions business.

In accordance with the basic agreement, Ricoh will acquire Hitachi PRS, which enjoys considerable success with its printers for mission critical systems, high speed printers for the POD markets and also low end colour laser printers. Hitachi PRS's participation in the Ricoh group will not only create synergistic effects in the areas of technology, products and human resources for Ricoh printer business but also contribute to increasing Ricoh's corporate value.

Hitachi, for its part, is making every possible effort to ensure that all its businesses win in the global marketplace in accordance with its mid term business plan: "i.e.HITACHI Plan II." This basic agreement was made within the context of this plan. Hitachi sees printers as important products for its information and communication systems business and intends to provide its customers with even higher valued added solutions, maintaining all the while a strong business partnership with Ricoh.

Corporate profile of Hitachi PRS

Name	Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd.
President	Toshiaki Katayama President and Chief Executive Officer
Address	15-1, Konan 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Date of incorporation	October, 2002
Business content	Printers and related equipment, software development, product development, design, production and marketing
Fiscal year end	March 31
Number of employees	820 (Group 2,200) as of December, 2003
Capital stock	5,000 million yen(Number of shares held 100,000)
Net sales	About 60,000 million yen (estimate for fiscal year ended in March 2004)

Changes in share holding ratios

Current	Ricoh 0%	Hitachi 0%
After the transfer (plan)	Ricoh 100%	Hitachi 0%

Schedule
Scheduled transfer of shares: October 2004

Influence on Ricoh and Hitachi consolidated financial figures
None for fiscal 2003 ending on March 31, 2004 is expected. Influence in fiscal 2004 ending on March 31, 2005 will depend on result of current negotiations.